In the pursuit to find the best format for watching horror, I have been viewing many movies on both VHS and DVD. Here are my conclusions and I tried not to let any bias get in the way.
In terms of picture, especially for 70's and 80's horror, I choose VHS. The grainy picture always makes me think back to the drive-in plus it helps hide some flaws in shoddy FX work. Now, for much older movies and current ones, DVD would be the better choice. VHS did not do the Universal Monsters justice and that is where the digital format can really shine. For audio quality you have to go with DVD. I can't tell you how many movies I have watched on VHS, mostly direct to video titles, where the speed of the music and voice track was off. I really hated the ones where the music would start and it would sound like an old wind-up Victrola that was almost out of juice, just sputtering along. On some films like Night Of The Creeps or The Monster Squad, I prefer the picture of the VHS but love the extras on the DVD. All of the featurettes and mini documentaries have always interested me, I know a lot of people just buy the bare bones release but I like learning about the behind the scenes stuff. The bad thing with this experiment is that I was not able to decide which format is better. Guess I will have to keep buying both VHS and DVD, poor me. But I want to know what you think, which format do you like more?
That's a tough one. I love the fading quality in VHS tapes. Gives me a great feeling. I do like the DVD, because of the special features. I haven't had much luck with the VHS players though, I broken so many it's sad. So maybe the DVD was made for me.
ReplyDeleteVHS. I just find it to be the best personally. But everyone has their own favorite. :)
ReplyDeleteI summed up my thoughts here (http://monsterchiller.blogspot.com/2010/03/horror-vhs-in-digital-day.html).
ReplyDeleteIn short, I go with DVD